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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25231075">Full Disclosure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraNova/pseuds/AuroraNova'>AuroraNova</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Genetic Engineering, Implied Pining (if you want to read it that way)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:53:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,960</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25231075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraNova/pseuds/AuroraNova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julian Bashir has been hiding more than one secret. Provided he's able to save the <i>Defiant</i> from certain destruction, those secrets are about to come to light. </p><p>Garak learns a few things about his lunch companion and might not even need to kill anyone to protect Bashir.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Julian Bashir &amp; Elim Garak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>151</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Full Disclosure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>And now for something a bit different. Mr. Nova and I watched The Witcher, I started thinking about DS9 with supernatural powers, and this happened. </p><p>"Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test." - Robert Ingersoll</p><p>A few bits of dialogue lifted from "Doctor Bashir, I Presume."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>2369</strong>
</p><p>“Evolution has truly favored humans,” said Garak.</p><p>Bashir’s latest human novel, while suffering from very poor storytelling, had been enlightening. Garak now knew a great deal more about humanity’s unique abilities to exert control over inanimate objects. These abilities to bend the physical world to one’s will, even if in a limited manner, defied science as Garak understood it. That was humans for you. By all evidence they lived to upend order and vex conventions. There was absolutely no explanation in physics for why some people could, for instance, cut a sheet of duranium in two simply by wishing to. And yet certain humans had that ability. They each had some special talent, though not all of equal use to be sure.  </p><p>“Cardassians would give a great deal to influence the world as you can,” he continued. The effort, in fact, was ongoing. Cardassian scientists had obtained human DNA years ago, but thus far had not yielded any results worth speaking of.</p><p>“Before we met Vulcans, humans used to assume everyone in the universe would have the same abilities we do.”</p><p>Garak imagined much of the universe’s population wished that to be the case. “All races imagine the rest of the universe will be like they are. Now, am I to understand that each of your elements has subcategories?”</p><p>“No,” said Bashir. “Not all of them. Earth does: silicates and metals. Water wielders are typically much stronger in one of the three states than the other two.”</p><p>“I don’t imagine control over gaseous water is the most practical of talents.”</p><p>Bashir shrugged. “Good for clearing steam. Anyway, fire and air don’t have subcategories. They’re simply heat and air flow, respectively.”</p><p>“You know, Doctor, it occurs to me that you haven’t shared your particular talent.” Garak had debated accessing Starfleet personnel files but decided the risks outweighed the benefits. He was not an expert at circumventing Federation security software, and his situation on the station was precarious enough without giving Commander Sisko reason to have him expelled.</p><p>“You do realize it’s considered incredibly rude to ask someone their element.”</p><p>“Is it?” Garak had expected that humans, free with information as they were, would go around telling all and sundry of their powers.</p><p>Bashir nodded. “Almost as rude as asking how strong they are with it.”</p><p>“So that shouldn’t be my next question?”</p><p>“I don’t recommend it.”</p><p>How delightful. Garak did so enjoy a challenge.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>2370 </strong>
</p><p>“This station had better air flow when it was Cardassian.”</p><p>Bashir raised his eyebrows. This, Garak had learned, was his standard response to a patient suffering from a neurochemical imbalance which caused what he called ‘irritability I will not take personally.’</p><p>“It’s positively stifling,” continued Garak, feeling marginally better for airing (some of) his grievances.</p><p>“Shall I replicate you a fan?”</p><p>“Not unless you can also convince Chief O’Brien to override the standard environmental settings in my quarters. I don’t need to be colder, Doctor.” Usually the Vulcan standard temperatures sufficed for Garak’s needs, but of late he’d found them entirely inadequate. According to Bashir, that too could be attributed to neurochemical imbalance. The list of effects was lengthy.</p><p>“Then you’d have to do without my company,” said Bashir.</p><p>Garak very nearly pointed out that meant he would have less human sweat accumulating on his couch, but thought better of it at the last minute. He was enjoying the novelty of having someone concerned about his wellbeing, and moreover did not care to spend his entire day alone with his thoughts. Bashir’s visits were a welcome respite.</p><p>Instead, he moved his rook and said, “Check.”</p><p>There were worse ways to pass an afternoon than chess. While the game lacked the excitement of kotra, Garak appreciated the strategy involved and was presently refining an argument to present to Bashir on the theme that chess demonstrated humans knew something of sacrifice for the greater good, after all.</p><p>The sudden breeze came as a surprise. He looked around but saw no source except Bashir with a slight smile. Ah. That explained it. “Air is your element.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Garak had many questions. In the interest of not offending his only company, he opted not to ask them. Tain had ensured he had plenty of time in which to pursue his inquiries.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>2372</strong>
</p><p>Bashir’s secret agent program continued to be very strange. He admitted that it was not entirely the product of historical accuracy, which Garak had known immediately and without any great understanding of Earth’s twentieth century. At times it was nothing short of ludicrous.</p><p>This was one of those occasions. Garak cast a critical eye on the hole Bashir was digging.  “Wouldn’t it be simpler to sweep your opponents off their feet with a strong gale? Or a localized tornado, perhaps?”</p><p>“The program isn’t designed for that,” said Bashir. “Different elements, different levels of strength… it’s too complicated to incorporate. Besides, while there is real air for me to move, these cliffs are holographic. An earth-silicate wielder couldn’t do a thing with them.”</p><p>“Your friend should consider offering personalized programs which would recreate an individual’s ability.”</p><p>Bashir did not seem to think so. “Tornadoes are far beyond my capability, anyway.”</p><p>“That’s a shame.”</p><p>“I haven’t lost sleep over it. Now, help me make this trap before Falcon shows up.”</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>2374</strong>
</p><p>Garak had discovered that on certain occasions, if he invited himself to a senior staff meeting, Sisko did not bother to dismiss him. After all, Garak was handling some of the most classified intelligence of the war effort; what point was there in pretending he hadn’t been granted security clearance, however reluctantly on Starfleet’s part?</p><p>The current meeting was more or less spontaneous and held on the <em>Defiant</em>’s bridge, so Garak hadn’t even had to try to gain access.</p><p>They’d limped away from the latest battle in very poor shape. If one wanted good news, Bashir attended the meeting, so it was safe to assume no one remained critically injured. The doctor busied himself healing minor burns on O’Brien’s forearms while the engineer gave his dire report.</p><p>“Shields and engines are completely gone, sir.”</p><p>Sisko frowned. He didn’t have much to smile about lately. Nobody did. “Can you repair them?”</p><p>“I can do one or the other. Our extra power couplings were lost to the hull breach. We only have one left.”</p><p>Dax looked very concerned. “We’re directly in the path of a gravimetric distortion.”</p><p>“How long before it hits?” asked Sisko.</p><p>“Fifty-eight minutes for the leading edge.”</p><p>“Can we see if the <em>Armstrong </em>or the <em>Shran </em>can spare a power coupling?”</p><p>O’Brien shook his head. “The <em>Armstrong </em>is barely holding together and already short one, and the <em>Shran</em> took the <em>Zhukov</em>’s crew<em>. </em>They had to get creative to double life support capacity. They can’t give us a power coupling without suffocating.”</p><p>“We can’t escape a gravimetric distortion without engines,” stated Dax.</p><p>“And we can’t survive one without shields,” added Bashir, moving on to attend to the gash on Dax’s forehead.</p><p>O’Brien checked a status report on his padd. “I can give you shields or engines in an hour.”</p><p>“Is there any other system you can take offline for the power coupling, Chief?” asked Sisko. “Weapons?”</p><p>“That coupling’s fried. Life support is the only other option.”</p><p>Bashir snapped his medical tricorder shut. “Fix the engines.”</p><p>Everyone turned to look at him.</p><p>“The shields will hold.”</p><p>“Julian,” said O’Brien, “we don’t <em>have</em> shields.”</p><p>“We will.”</p><p>“How?” asked Dax.</p><p>“I can’t afford a demonstration right now.” When he received only confused stares in response, Bashir sighed, “The fifth element. Antiquity called it aether. It’s energy. I can hold shields for a few minutes.”</p><p>“In that case,” suggested Garak when the others were too shocked to speak, “perhaps Chief O’Brien should begin engine repairs immediately.”</p><p>“Do it,” said Sisko. “We can have a detailed discussion later.”</p><p>Still looking impossibly perplexed, O’Brien nodded and left the bridge. That left Bashir, Sisko, Dax, and Garak.</p><p>“I’ll explain everything,” said Bashir. “But it would be immensely helpful if I could rest right now.”</p><p>“By all means,” said Sisko.       </p><p>“I’ll be back in forty-five minutes.”</p><p>When it was just Garak, Sisko, and Dax left on the bridge, Garak broke the silence. “Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I was under the impression that control over energy was not an option for humans.”</p><p>“So was I,” said Dax.</p><p>“That makes three of us.” Sisko sat in his chair. “But I trust Dr. Bashir. Get something to eat, Old Man. We’re going to need your best piloting and I don’t want you flying on an empty stomach. Garak, keep an eye on that distortion.”</p><p>Garak did so while mentally reviewing years’ worth of interactions with Bashir and not coming up with a single instance where the doctor might have influenced energy. He had utilized his ability to control air flow on a few occasions, most recently in Internment Camp 371 where he subtly provided enough movement of air that Garak didn’t feel quite so likely to suffocate.</p><p>Well, it appeared the doctor was a much better secret-keeper than Garak had assumed. Garak therefore accepted the sandwich Dax thoughtfully brought and pondered.</p><p>Bashir returned in forty-five minutes as promised, not looking greatly rested (who did anymore?) but radiating determination. This, Garak thought, ought to be very interesting, provided of course they survived.  </p><p>“How are we doing?” Bashir asked, taking Chief O’Brien’s chair.</p><p>“The gravimetric distortion is eleven minutes away,” replied Dax.</p><p>“Sisko to O’Brien. Status report.”</p><p>“Fifteen minutes, sir. Thirteen if I skip the safety checks.”</p><p>“We may not have a choice,” said Sisko. “Keep me updated if anything changes. Sisko out.”</p><p>“Julian, how long can you hold shields?” asked Dax.</p><p>“Four minutes, maybe five. It’s not exactly something I’ve done before.”</p><p>“Am I the only one who doesn’t find that reassuring?” Garak asked.</p><p>Bashir was not amused. “I <em>can </em>do this. But if anyone needs medical treatment, I won’t be able to provide it. I’ve already told Crewman Sapkowski to be ready for casualties, but if there’s anything serious, I’m afraid we could face fatalities.”</p><p>“That’s a risk we have to take,” said Sisko.</p><p>Several anxious minutes later, Dax said, “Three minutes to the leading edge of the distortion.”</p><p>Bashir had been oddly quiet. Marshalling his resources, perhaps. In any event, he injected himself with a hypospray. “Adrenaline stabilizer.”</p><p>“Is there anything you need from us?” asked Sisko. Garak sympathized with the captain’s obvious desire to do something, anything at all which might be of use.</p><p>“It’ll be easier if I don’t have to give verbal reports on what I’m doing.”</p><p>“That’s fine,” said Sisko.</p><p>“Jadzia, could I have a ten-second warning?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>“Garak. Once I’m finished, no matter what happens or how necessary it seems, don’t let anyone touch me until I say so.”</p><p>“I won’t.”</p><p>“Two minutes,” said Dax.</p><p>Sisko grew even more concerned. “Doctor, is this going to be a significant risk for you?”</p><p>“Much less risky than not doing it, Captain.”</p><p>There was nothing anyone could say to counter that point, so Sisko simply hit the button on his chair. “All hands, this is the captain. Brace for impact with a gravimetric distortion in two minutes. Bridge out.”</p><p>Shortly thereafter, Dax reported, “Impact in fifteen seconds. Fourteen.”</p><p>Bashir took a deep breath.</p><p>“Thirteen.”</p><p>He spread his hands very deliberately on his hap.</p><p>“Twelve.”</p><p>He closed his eyes.</p><p>“Eleven. Ten.”</p><p>Garak felt the distinct prickle of static electricity ripple through the bridge.</p><p>“Nine. Eight.”</p><p>In all Garak’s years, he’d never experienced anything quite like this. He could feel the energy amassing around Dr. Bashir, who had never looked so intimidating before.</p><p>“Seven. Six.”</p><p>Bashir lifted his hands and made loose fists of them.</p><p>“Five. Four.”</p><p>He threw out his hands, and the force he pushed away knocked Garak off his feet.</p><p>“Three. Two. One. Impact.”</p><p>Dax hadn’t needed to announce impact. It was quite apparent by the way the <em>Defiant </em>pitched backwards, and Garak was sure to have bruised his shoulder. Nevertheless, he felt no difference in gravity whatsoever, which he took as a promising sign. Gravimetric distortions were not generally subtle.</p><p>“Shields are holding,” reported Dax. “Well, Julian is holding. Honestly, I have no idea what he’s doing.”</p><p>“As long as it’s working,” said Sisko, and Garak agreed wholeheartedly.</p><p>“O’Brien to Sisko. Sir, do you want me to override the safety checks?”</p><p>The captain eyed Bashir, who made no response and remained still, eyes closed, hands out. “If the safety check finds something, how long would we be looking at?”</p><p>“Gravimetric shear increasing,” said Dax.</p><p>“Anywhere from three to twenty minutes,” said O’Brien.</p><p>“Skip it,” said Sisko.</p><p>“Aye sir. Overriding safety checks. Impulse engines in two and a half minutes. Warp in four.”</p><p>“Dax, are impulse engines enough to escape the distortion?”</p><p>“As long as it’s full impulse.”</p><p>“You’ll have it,” said O’Brien.</p><p>One man could replace shields, at least temporarily. What other feats might Bashir be capable of? Garak resolved to make certain that Sisko, Dax, and O’Brien were fully aware of the danger Bashir would be in if his ability to manipulate energy became known. Garak could think of fully a dozen individuals or organizations who would stop at nothing to obtain his power, and that list without real effort. Once Garak would have been among them. Now he resolved to do what he could to protect the doctor from those who would destroy him in pursuit of his talent.</p><p>The <em>Defiant </em>pitched side to side. “Gravimetric shear increasing,” reported Dax. “We’re being pulled toward the center of the distortion.”</p><p>Bashir frowned. So he was listening.</p><p>How exactly had the doctor practiced this skill? It wasn’t as though one could go around throwing up shields at leisure without anyone noticing. At least, not on Deep Space Nine or Cardassia. Garak granted that he was not familiar enough with Earth to say for certain, though if authorities on Earth didn’t pay attention to randomly appearing energy shields, they were woefully unsuited for their jobs.</p><p>Bashir, meanwhile, was visibly straining. Garak supposed maintaining shields around an entire starship, even a relatively small one, must be quite exhausting, and that was without gravity attempting to tear them all into constituent atoms. Nevertheless, the shields did not weaken.</p><p>“Engines are coming online,” said Dax after what seemed like a very long time.</p><p>“Take us out of here,” ordered Sisko.</p><p>“Plotting a course. It’s going to get bumpy.”</p><p>It was already bumpy, but Garak didn’t see any point in mentioning that.</p><p>“Engines online. Engaging full impulse.”</p><p>Dax was a talented pilot. It was, indeed, a very tumultuous ride, but she brought them out of the distortion’s path with some creative maneuvers and admirable finesse. The whole time, Bashir remained unusually still, silent, and quite clearly putting every bit of his considerable determination into ensuring that gravity did not win the day.</p><p>“We’re clear,” reported Dax at last.</p><p>Bashir collapsed. O’Brien, rushing onto the bridge, would have grabbed his shoulder if Garak had not thrown his hand out to catch the chief’s wrist.</p><p>“He said no one is to touch him.”</p><p>O’Brien frowned but nodded, and Garak let go. “For how long?”</p><p>“Until he says so.”</p><p>“Is he even conscious?” asked O’Brien.</p><p>Dax pulled out a tricorder. “No, but he’s breathing and his heart’s beating.”</p><p>“We’ll have to let him be, as he insisted,” said Sisko. “In the meantime, lay in a course to Starbase 290 and engage. Warp five if we have it.”</p><p>“We only have four, sir,” said O’Brien.</p><p>“Then that will have to do.”</p><p>Once Dax had them on their way to Starbase 290, Garak decided this was as good an opportunity as he was likely to get. “No one but the four of us can know about this. There are many people who would stop at nothing to gain Dr. Bashir’s power, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that they won’t be concerned about him.”</p><p>Two solemn humans and one concerned Trill looked at Bashir, then Garak. “He’d never be safe,” said Dax.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Sisko nodded. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you were able to get a few more minutes out of that power coupling, Chief.”</p><p>“Right,” said O’Brien. “That’s what happened.”</p><p>“Did anyone see you working on it?” asked Garak. Details were key to a good cover story.</p><p>O’Brien shrugged. “I wielded it.”</p><p>“Desperation has been known to increase humans’ elemental powers,” said Dax.</p><p>“Not as often as I’d like,” muttered O’Brien.</p><p>He was an earth-metal wielder, then. Garak used to think that would be of greater use than Bashir’s occasionally handy ability to manipulate air, but of course there could be no contest now. The doctor unquestionably had the most powerful talent. In any case, that part of their explanation struck Garak as satisfactory. He moved on to the next.</p><p>“Did you tell anyone about the doctor’s plan, Chief?”</p><p>“No. Didn’t even understand it myself.”</p><p>Good. That spared Garak the trouble of arranging a deadly accident and undoubtedly raising Sisko’s suspicions in the process. Sisko, Dax, and O’Brien could be relied upon to protect the doctor, insomuch as Garak was willing to grant such matters, and in any case Bashir would never forgive their deaths to protect his secret.</p><p>There remained a final concern, however. “Commander, would the sensor logs indicate any discrepancies?”</p><p>“Gravimetric distortions can play tricks on sensors. Looks like that happened to us.”</p><p>After that, there was nothing to do but wait. Surely Chief O’Brien had more pressing tasks than standing on the bridge until his friend regained consciousness, but Garak really couldn’t begrudge the chief his curiosity. Anyway, Garak technically could have been decoding a handful of transmissions picked up in the last battle, so he supposed that curious human idiom about cookware was applicable, even if Bashir had failed to convince him there was merit to anthropomorphizing the contents of one’s kitchen.</p><p>If the doctor did not recover from his incredible efforts, Garak would be greatly bereft. He observed the slow rise and fall of Bashir’s chest, which could only be a good indication, could it not?</p><p>The low groan was also a promising sign. Dax visibly restrained herself from touching Bashir. A long half-minute later, the doctor again groaned, slowly lifted his head, and observed, “We made it.”</p><p>“Thanks to you,” said Dax.</p><p>“Are you alright, Doctor?” That was Sisko in full ‘concerned paternal figure’ mode, a style of command which did not exist among Cardassians.</p><p>“More or less.” Bashir yawned. “I feel like I could sleep for a week. Oh, it’s safe to touch me now.”</p><p>“What was that about?” asked O’Brien.</p><p>“Potentially fatal shocks if I wasn’t able to dissipate the energy gradually enough.” The doctor sat up straighter and addressed Sisko. “I imagine you have questions, sir.”</p><p>“They can wait until you’ve rested.”</p><p>“If it’s all the same to you, Captain, I’d just as soon get this over with.”</p><p>“If that’s what you want.”</p><p>Bashir nodded but did not speak immediately, and Garak began to suspect Bashir had far more secrets than anyone – embarrassingly, himself included – had dreamed. The day was full of surprises. Life, Garak had found, was rarely dull when Julian Bashir was around.</p><p>“I was six,” said the doctor at last. “Small for my age, a bit awkward physically, not very bright. In the first grade, while the other children were learning how to read and write and use the computer, I was still trying to tell a dog from a cat, a tree from a house. I didn't really understand what was happening. I knew that I wasn't doing as well as my classmates. There were so many concepts that they took for granted that I couldn't begin to master and I didn't know why. All I knew was that I was a great disappointment to my parents. I don't remember when they made the decision, but just before my seventh birthday we left Earth for Adigeon Prime. At first, I remember being really excited at seeing all the aliens in the hospital. Then they gave me a room and began the treatments, and my entire world began to change.”</p><p>“What were the treatments?” Sisko prompted when Bashir paused too long.</p><p>“The technical term is 'accelerated critical neural pathway formation.' Over the course of the next two months, my genetic structure was manipulated to accelerate the growth of neuronal networks in my cerebral cortex, and a whole new Julian Bashir was born.”</p><p>“You’re talking about complete genetic re-sequencing,” said Dax.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“You’re…” O’Brien was at a loss for words.</p><p>“The word you're looking for is unnatural, meaning not from nature. Freak or monster would also be acceptable.”</p><p>Garak was stunned by the amount of self-loathing in Bashir’s tone. Was that what his supposed arrogance worked to hide?</p><p>O’Brien, to his credit, hastened to insist, “That’s <em>not</em> the word I was looking for.”</p><p>Refusing to be sidetracked, Bashir returned his attention to Sisko. “You’ll have my resignation within the hour, sir.”</p><p>That simply would not do. “You can’t resign,” said Garak. “Quite aside from keeping you as a backup shield generator, we are in desperate need of your ongoing medical services.” Not to mention Garak’s acute need for engaging conversation.</p><p>“DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal. Any genetically enhanced human being is barred from serving in Starfleet or practicing medicine. But I was explaining how I ended up able to wield energy.”</p><p>Garak was presently far more concerned with keeping Bashir on the <em>Defiant, </em>but the doctor continued, “The doctors at Adigeon Prime tried to give me strong expressions of all four elements. Entirely ignoring the fact that Khan was a menace with three, of course. It didn’t appear to take. I developed an unremarkable air element in due course. Then when I was fifteen I got into an argument with my parents and obliterated our computer terminal. It turns out that when you try to combine all four elements, they somehow merge into energy. I have a theory, but I’ll spare you the medical dissertation. Suffice it to say, not only do I have enhanced intellect, an impeccable memory, and various physical enhancements, I can also wield energy. I am everything the Federation fears about Augments.”</p><p>There was the self-loathing again. It did not suit Bashir at all. Garak would have to look up this Khan at his earliest opportunity, as the research sounded to be very enlightening.</p><p>“I don’t think so, Doctor,” said Sisko. Good. Someone else was being sensible. “You’ve had the ability to wield energy since you were fifteen. Am I correct in guessing this is the first time you’ve used it since you’ve been under my command?”</p><p>“No, sir. This was the second.”</p><p>“And the first?”</p><p>“I redirected some disruptor fire on Ajilon Prime so Jake wasn’t hit.”</p><p>“So the only times you’ve used your talent are to save my son’s life, and to save this ship and everyone on it.”</p><p>Bashir managed a jerky nod.</p><p>“That doesn’t sound like Khan to me.”</p><p>“It’s still illegal,” said Bashir in a puzzling failure to defend himself. Garak had long thought the man’s instinct for self-preservation left something to be desired, but this was a new and disturbing level thereof.</p><p>“I don't there's been a case dealing with any of this in a hundred years,” said O’Brien.</p><p>“And there isn’t going to be one now,” pronounced Sisko.</p><p>“There isn’t?” Bashir looked like he hardly dared believe this stroke of fortune.</p><p>“No. This will remain between us.”</p><p>O’Brien and Dax followed with encouraging nods of their own, while Sisko spared a warning glance for Garak. Had the captain truly not realized Garak would unhesitating kill to protect Bashir? Clearly Garak hadn’t lost his touch when it came to acting out lies.</p><p>“You really don’t mind?” asked Bashir.</p><p>Sisko remained steady as ever. If he had qualms, he hid them exceptionally well. “You’ve proven yourself to be an exemplary doctor and officer. That is what matters to me, not your genes.”</p><p>Garak kept silent for the time being. This was about some Federation prejudice which, not being familiar to him, he could only assume was ridiculous. He had much research to do on the subject. Furthermore, and provided that the Dominion didn’t kill him first, he needed to take a trip to Adigeon Prime to destroy certain medical records.</p><p>Dax shrugged. “This is just another human ability I don’t have.”</p><p>“I’m not looking for a new darts partner,” said O’Brien.</p><p>“You have no idea how much this means to me,” said Bashir quietly. Garak thought he just might. And no wonder the doctor was so devoted to the ideals of tolerance and universal respect. He never expected they would be applied to him.</p><p>Supposing Bashir would need reassurances from him as well, Garak deemed the time right to offer them. “I must say, Doctor, I’m impressed. Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been sharing my lunches with the most powerful man in the sector for years without knowing it?”</p><p>“I wouldn’t go that far.”</p><p>“I would,” said Dax. Sisko and O’Brien kept their opinions on the matter to themselves.</p><p>Garak fully intended to explore exactly what about Bashir had been altered. This impeccable memory, for instance, and the unnamed physical enhancements. There was no way Garak could let such tantalizing possibilities lie without attempting to uncover them, and Bashir had to know it. What a pleasant diversion from the war this would be.</p><p>That would have to wait, however. At the moment Bashir couldn’t even stand up without wobbling precariously.</p><p>“Get some rest, Doctor,” ordered Sisko. “As much as you need. Once you’re fit for duty, you might want to start making a list of medical supplies you’ll need from Starbase 290.”</p><p>“Thank you. All of you.”</p><p>“You’re the one who just saved us,” said Sisko. “Rest, Doctor. That’s an order.”</p><p>“Yes sir.”</p><p>Bashir appeared unlikely to make the trip to his quarter without falling flat on his face. Garak therefore stepped to the doctor’s side to prevent such an occurrence.</p><p>“I can make it,” protested Bashir.</p><p>“Excellent. I await your demonstration.”</p><p>Dax favored Garak with an approving smile.</p><p>Bashir made it to the turbolift by himself, at least, though he did lean heavily against the wall once inside. “I never expected to have a career if it came out.”</p><p>“That is short-sighted even by Federation standards.” How much more could Bashir accomplish for his state if he wasn’t obliged to hide? Garak could not begin to make sense of this self-defeating stance.</p><p>“You have no idea what the problem is, do you?”</p><p>“I assume that Earth’s leaders are all powerful wielders of their respective elements who would be threatened by your ability.” That wasn’t true, exactly, but it successfully amused Bashir, which was what mattered.</p><p>“Look up Earth’s Eugenics Wars.”</p><p>Garak would waste no time in doing so. He hated to be at an informational disadvantage, and while he doubted he would see reason in this wide ban on genetically engineered individuals, that was in no way a new state of affairs in regards to Federation attitudes. If one could have a doctor with the dual advantages of, for instance, flawless memory and increased dexterity, how was that anything but useful? The Federation had many species with varying medical needs, and in cases where time was of the essence, the difference between enhanced mental recall and looking up a fact in the computer could mean life or death. Garak had long thought humans would benefit from teaching their children some traditional Cardassian memory exercises. A surgeon with particularly skilled hands, too, was an asset. Cardassians were known to make such adjustments as improved their ability to serve in their profession, and Garak had never heard anyone argue against this practical measure.</p><p>When the turbolift stopped, Bashir didn’t move. He was nearly asleep. “Come, Doctor. Your bed isn’t far.”</p><p>“Hmm? Oh, right.” Bashir wrenched himself away from the turbolift wall. So much for arriving at his quarters unaided. He may not have collapsed in the corridor yet, but without Garak he’d have been discovered asleep in the turbolift next time someone entered.</p><p>“When we stop at Starbase 290, I believe I’ll see if this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced yet.”</p><p>“You haven’t read a single Pulitzer winner you’ve liked.”</p><p>That was not completely true. The novel awarded this honor in 2371 was engaging, if flawed, but admitting that would’ve ruined a good debate, so Garak hadn’t. “Let’s see if the pattern holds, shall we?”</p><p>Bashir smirked slightly in an exhausted imitation of his usual expression. “This ought to be good.”</p><p>Indeed. Their literary discussions were always highly enjoyable, and Garak was quite relieved he wasn’t going to be deprived of them over some absurd Federation prejudice. The day had only served to raise Bashir in his esteem even more (and, for that matter, the same might be said of Sisko, Dax, and O’Brien, if to a lesser degree).</p><p>“I look forward to it,” Garak said.</p><p>The worst possible options for a life, in Garak’s opinion, were uselessness and boredom. Julian Bashir had been providing him with respites from boredom for years now. And to think, the entire time he’d managed to keep his immense power from even the slightest suspicion. (By not using it, which to the Cardassian mind was nearly inconceivable. It was quite evident that healing the sick and injured was Bashir’s true aspiration.)</p><p>Fortunately for Bashir, he now had a highly motivated expert at secret-keeping at his disposal. Garak left the doctor to his much-needed rest and started to consider both excuses for a trip to Adigeon Prime and the best ways to physically destroy medical data storage.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments are always gratefully received. ;)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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